You’d think having a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Buffalo State would be enough to land a job that pays a livable wage, especially half a decade after you graduate.
Not so for 31-year-old Calvin Sauveur. He spent the first several years after he earned his diploma underemployed, either because his jobs didn’t pay enough or because he couldn’t find a full-time job in his field.
No matter how well he performed, “there was no progress,” he said.
Sauveur is a first-generation American, raised primarily by a single mother in Brooklyn. So, a friend recommended that he check out COOP Careers at a networking event.
“That’s when everything began to change,” said Sauveur.
The not-for-profit organization’s aim is to help first-generation individuals like Sauveur gain the soft skills and connections they need to win the kinds of jobs for which their college educations prepared them.
Often, the difference in employment prospects for people like Sauveur and peers of theirs who were raised in white-collar families comes down to casual social networks, according to Kalani Leifer, founder and CEO of COOP Careers.
“Relationships pull you into your career more than your skills propel you,” he said.
COOP’s participants, called “apprentices,” are encouraged to build a community with people who will support each other throughout their careers, offering the same kinds of connections their more privileged peers enjoyed before even entering the workforce.
In addition, COOP teaches digital skills related to high-demand fields like data analytics, digital marketing and financial services.
Classes are held four nights per week and are taught by “captains,” many of whom are former COOP graduates now in the workforce. Tuition is free.
“It’s not what you know, but who you know,” said Leifer.
Young corporate recruiters and managers who need to hire immediately tend to reach out to their employees and ask them to recommend friends, people from school, social networks, the neighborhoods they grew up in, fraternities and sororities and so on.
These are the candidates who are most often hired.
Unintentionally, this practice effectively rules out job seekers who went to college but lack those connections.
Consider that the average salary for new college graduates in New York City is $68,612 per year, compared to the average salary of an incoming COOP Careers apprentice with a bachelor’s degree, who earns approximately $15,000 before entering the program.
Within 12 months of apprenticeship completion, 80% of COOP alumni are fully employed in a professional-level job and earn an average of $50,000 or more per year — over three times their pre-program income.
About 80% of apprentices who earned a certificate of completion from COOP earned a median of $75,000 at the five-year mark.
This is among the many reasons that Brooklynite Sophia Love Ilizarav applied to enter the program. “I also wanted to get rid of my limiting beliefs,” said the 23-year-old graduate from Brooklyn College.
Although she initially planned to leverage the new digital marketing skills she gained during the apprenticeship, she now intends to move to Los Angeles to pursue work in the music industry. Ilizarav has already connected with COOP alumni there.
Kristian Orozco Mejia, a resident of Mount Vernon, NY, and graduate of City College of New York, was first introduced to COOP through its partnership with his school.
Initially, he didn’t think he was interested in the program because his degree was in public relations, but after working in that industry for a short while, he learned it was not his cup of tea.
“I had no passion for it,” said the 26-year-old.
Mejia bonded with his classmates in the digital marketing program. “I’m still in touch with all 16 of my classmates,” he said. It seems that being so friendly pays off. His first post-COOP job, at Horizon Media, was via a referral by a COOP alumnus who worked there.
COOP Careers certificate earners are in demand from companies like Horizon, Disney, Google, Havas, Publicis Media and many more.
“We hold hiring events with COOP that are like speed dating,” said Jacqueline Graham, senior vice president and managing partner of talent acquisition at Publicis.
Brian Mason, Publicis’ associate director of talent acquisition, is also a fan. “It not only helps us achieve our goal of being inclusive, but the skills they learn at COOP Careers provide a good foundation,” he said.
Leighani Wright, who earned a data analytics certificate from COOP, now works at Publicis Collective as a health care analytics analyst. Like many of her peers, including Sauveur and Mejia, she has returned to COOP to teach four nights per week.
“Sometimes I’m tired after a full day at work, but getting to meet and teach new apprentices and to give back is fulfilling,” she said.
The alumni give back in other ways too, by coaching mock interviews, providing resume reviews, helping develop LinkedIn profiles and participating in panel discussions.
Last year, 1,000 COOPers joined a virtual event to welcome new apprentices.
But it’s not all work. “We also have fun together,” said Wright, referring to alumni gatherings at picnics, happy hours and sporting events.
Calvin Sauveur is now a research manager at Zenith.
He credits COOP Careers for providing him with the digital analytics skills he needs for work, but there’s something else, too.
“I have learned that I am not alone,” he said.
